The Trait Model of Emotional Intelligence

One of the most recent models of EI was published in 2009 by Petrides and colleagues and marks a break from the idea that emotional intelligence is ability-based. Instead, it proposes that people have, as part of their personalities, a number of emotional self-perceptions and emotional traits.

These traits aren't measured in the scientific sense, but are instead measured by the respondent's self-report. Of course, this assumes that the respondent is able to accurately describe his or her own traits.

The TEIQue model that is available on the Consortium's website was developed by K.V. Petrides Ph.D. The abbreviation stands for 'Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire.' This model forms an integral part of University College London's (UCL) Psychometric Laboratory and is one aspect of its research program. See ' Understanding Emotional Intelligence' for the background information on this.

You can either complete the full TEIQue model with over 150 items or the 30 items of the short-form version questionnaire. The questionnaire covers 15 facets in the sampling domain as shown in the diagram below. To understand how someone would score highly for each facet click here.

It's important to note that this model of emotional intelligence can only be viewed in conjunction with a comprehensive exploration of a person's personality. This is distinct from the other models, which posit that EI is a brain-based ability, not an environmental aspect of personality. It will take time to collate sufficient evidence that can be fully examined and confirmed or rejected by the research community at large.